Mossley (UK Parliament constituency)

Mossley
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County Lancashire
(now Greater Manchester)
1918 (1918)–1950 (1950)
Number of members One
Replaced by Droylsden
Ashton-under-Lyne
Created from Gorton
Prestwich

Mossley was a parliamentary constituency which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament.

It was created at the 1918 general election as a county division of Lancashire, taking areas formerly in the Gorton and Prestwich constituencies. The area consisted of small towns which were increasingly suburban to Manchester, such as Droylsden and Failsworth (now part of Oldham borough), together with some towns then further out such as Denton, and stretching out to the edge of Saddleworth Moor to take in Mossley.

This created a mixed area which declined in social status during its existence as Manchester expanded to the east and its industrial area expanded. The electorate also increased over time, and in a boundary change in 1950 the seat was divided with the areas adjacent to Manchester forming the new Droylsden constituency while the remainder including Mossley itself formed part of Ashton-under-Lyne.

Contents

Boundaries

The constituency was defined as including the Rural District of Limehurst, the Municipal Borough of Mossley, and the Urban Districts of Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Failsworth and Lees.

Members of Parliament

Election Member Party
1918 Austin Hopkinson Coalition Liberal
1922 Independent
1929 Herbert Gibson Labour
1931 Austin Hopkinson National Independent
1945 George Woods Labour Co-op
1950 constituency abolished

Election results

1910s election results

General Election 1918: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Coalition Liberal Austin Hopkinson 16,158 75.6
Co-operative Party William Brown 5,227 24.4
Majority 10,931 51.2
Turnout 21,385 52.8

1920s election results

General Election 1922: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Austin Hopkinson 15,953 58.4 -17.2
Liberal M.E. Mitchell 11,376 41.6
Majority 4,577 16.8
Turnout 27,329 67.5
General Election 1923: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Austin Hopkinson 11,426 50.8 -7.6
Liberal George Jennison 11,051 49.2 +7.6
Majority 375 1.6
Turnout 22,477 54.5
Independent hold Swing
General Election 1924: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Austin Hopkinson 15,435 49.2 -1.6
Labour T.W. Mercer 10,769 34.3
Liberal George Jennison 5,162 16.5 -32.7
Majority 4,666 14.9
Turnout 31,366 75.3
Independent hold Swing
General Election 1929: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Herbert Gibson 19,296 46.0 +11.7
Independent Austin Hopkinson 14,267 33.9 -15.3
Liberal Harold Housley 8,467 20.1 +3.6
Majority 5,029 12.1
Turnout 42,030 76.8
Labour gain from Independent Swing

1930s election results

General Election 1931: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent National Austin Hopkinson 17,017 36.7 +2.8
Labour Herbert Gibson 15,587 33.5 -12.5
Conservative Ernest Barlow 13,873 29.8
Majority 1,430 3.2
Turnout 46,477 84.2
Independent National gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1935: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Independent Austin Hopkinson 24,569 52.3 +15.6
Labour Herbert Gibson 22,399 47.7 +14.2
Majority 2,170 4.6
Turnout 46,968 75.3
Independent hold Swing

1940s election results

General Election 1945: Mossley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rev. George Woods 27,435 47.5 -0.2
Conservative Captain G.E. Rush 18,452 32.0
Liberal Marjorie Jalland 7,128 12.4
Independent Austin Hopkinson 4,671 8.1 -44.2
Majority 8,983 15.5
Turnout 54,669 76.2
Labour gain from Independent Swing

References